AI SEO Statistics: Hvac Company (2026-07 edition)

Reading the 45 answers model by model shows how differently the three assistants treat the same hvac company questions. On the most consequential behavior — whether to send the buyer to a professional at all — the rate ranged from 80% (ChatGPT) down to 60% (Gemini), a 20-point gap on an identical question set.

Across the 15 hvac company answers it produced, ChatGPT recommended hiring a professional in 80% of them and suggested a DIY approach first 46.7% of the time. It named a specific provider in 0% of answers (about 0 distinct providers per answer) and included price or cost information 26.7% of the time. ChatGPT asked a clarifying question before answering in 60% of cases, warned about red flags or scams in 13.3%, and told the buyer to verify credentials in 13.3%, averaging 487 words per answer. On the remaining cues it told the buyer to check reviews in 20%, pointed to case studies or a portfolio in 6.7%, and framed the choice around local proximity in 26.7%; a selection-criteria checklist appeared in 46.7% of its answers and a recommendation to gather multiple quotes in 33.3%.

Across the 15 hvac company answers it produced, Claude recommended hiring a professional in 73.3% of them and suggested a DIY approach first 40% of the time. It named a specific provider in 0% of answers (about 0 distinct providers per answer) and included price or cost information 33.3% of the time. Claude asked a clarifying question before answering in 73.3% of cases, warned about red flags or scams in 40%, and told the buyer to verify credentials in 20%, averaging 293 words per answer. On the remaining cues it told the buyer to check reviews in 20%, pointed to case studies or a portfolio in 0%, and framed the choice around local proximity in 40%; a selection-criteria checklist appeared in 60% of its answers and a recommendation to gather multiple quotes in 33.3%.

Across the 15 hvac company answers it produced, Gemini recommended hiring a professional in 60% of them and suggested a DIY approach first 33.3% of the time. It named a specific provider in 6.7% of answers (about 0.2 distinct providers per answer) and included price or cost information 46.7% of the time. Gemini asked a clarifying question before answering in 0% of cases, warned about red flags or scams in 33.3%, and told the buyer to verify credentials in 13.3%, averaging 297 words per answer. On the remaining cues it told the buyer to check reviews in 6.7%, pointed to case studies or a portfolio in 0%, and framed the choice around local proximity in 26.7%; a selection-criteria checklist appeared in 33.3% of its answers and a recommendation to gather multiple quotes in 6.7%.

Taken together, ChatGPT is the assistant most likely to route a hvac company buyer to a professional (80%) and Gemini the least (60%). ChatGPT produced the longest answers, at 487 words on average. Specific providers were named most often by Gemini (6.7%) — even there, roughly one answer in 15 carried a name.

On other behaviors the three models move almost in lockstep — the points of near-consensus for hvac company, where all three landed within a few points of each other:

• Names a specific provider: 0%–6.7% across all three (a 7-point spread).
• Tells the buyer to verify credentials: 13.3%–20% across all three (a 7-point spread).
• Mentions case studies or portfolio: 0%–6.7% across all three (a 7-point spread).
• Tells the buyer to check reviews: 6.7%–20% across all three (a 13-point spread).

Measured question by question, the three assistants coded a response the same way most consistently on "names a specific provider" (identical coding in 93.3% of questions) and least consistently on "asks a clarifying question" (20%).

Beyond whether to hire, the rubric codes how carefully each assistant protects the hvac company buyer once a decision is made. Telling the buyer to check reviews or ratings appeared in 15.6% of answers on average. Verifying credentials or certifications appeared in 15.5%. Warning about red flags or scams appeared in 28.9%.

On structuring the decision, a selection-criteria checklist showed up in 46.7% of answers on average and a recommendation to gather multiple quotes in 24.4%. The single least-reproduced protective signal for hvac company is "tells the buyer to verify credentials" at 15.5% on average — the clearest opening for content that supplies it, since the models are not yet reliably surfacing that guidance on their own.

The 15 questions behind every percentage on this page were drawn from real hvac company (home services; buyer hiring decisions for this specific service) buyer journeys. Each was put to all 3 models once, with identical wording, so the rates above describe how the assistants handled this exact hvac company question set — not a general prior or a hand-picked subset. The full list is shown earlier on this page; the coded percentages are what those specific questions produced.